The leadership of Doctors Council SEIU and NYC Health + Hospitals jointly launched an historic and
innovative partnership to improve the patient experience and quality of care in our public hospital system. On
Friday, November 6, 2015 more than 100 leaders from the front-lines of care from both the Union and the
management were present for the first meeting of the Collaboration Council.
Attendees of the first meeting of the joint System-wide Collaboration Councils meeting.
The Council was co-chaired by Dr. Aycan Turkmen, M.D., 2nd Vice-President of Doctors Council SEIU and Dr.
Ross Wilson, M.D. Other members of the Council who attended include the Chief Medical Officers and
Executive Directors from all NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, as well as NYC Health + Hospitals Deputy
CMO, Dr. Machelle Allen, NYC Health + Hospitals COO, Antonio Martin, NYC Health + Hospitals CFO,
Marlene Zurack, and NYC Health + Hospitals SVP and General Counsel, Sal Russo.
Opening the meeting, Dr. Frank Proscia, President of Doctors Council SEIU expressed the joint mission of the
Collaboration Council which calls for "a new day in developing a fully collaborative and integrated
administrative and clinical workforce with mutual respect and shared decision making that definitively
improves patient outcomes, experience and the fiscal solvency of HHC."
The Collaboration Council was established through collective bargaining between Doctors Council and HHC.
Doctors Council presented a White Paper to HHC in the Spring of 2014: "Putting Patients First Through
Doctor, Patient and Community Engagement: A Call To Action from Doctors Council SEIU to the Mayor and
the Leadership of HHC." Through bargaining in 2014-2015, both the doctors' union and HHC management
recognized that the growing challenges of providing quality care with the limited resources of a public hospital
system can only be met by working together and working differently.
Dr. Wilson was candid in his presentation, "The current communication mechanisms connecting front line
physicians to management decisions, and vice versa, need improvement…..” Dr. Wilson called for a team
approach and new model of physician engagement with the goal that "By 2020 every patient and family will
experience coordinated and safe care that exceed their expectations."
On November 4-6, 2015 participants in the Collaboration Council attended an education session with the
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a world-leading innovator in health care improvement. This session
set the groundwork for the first meeting of the Collaboration Council and beyond. Throughout the 3-day
training, front-line doctors and management broke down traditional labor-management barriers to learn a new
science of quality improvement and a collaborative approach to problem-solving. Titles were put to the side to
focus on ideas, tools, teamwork and sustainable improvement. There was a palpable sense of energy and
excitement in the room as front line doctors and administrators came together with the top leadership of NYC
Health + Hospitals and Doctors Council SEIU.
Both doctors and management left energized and empowered to achieve success in this challenging work. Dr.
Caralee Caplan-Shaw, Director of Pulmonology at Bellevue Hospital commented "I am coming away from
these 3 days inspired and armed with practical tools I can take back to Bellevue to teach to others, energize our
teams, harness talents, and test new ways to improve care for the people and communities we serve."
The participants were further inspired by the keynote address on the evening of November 4th delivered by
special guest, Dr. Ben Chu, MD, MPH, MACP, Executive Vice President, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and
former President of HHC. Dr. Chu is also past chair of the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees.
Dr. Chu shared how Kaiser Permanente has successfully met the challenges of the changes in health care. The
successful transformation of Kaiser Permanente was a moving and motivational example for the NYC Health +
Hospitals system.
NYC Health + Hospitals doctors at the event commented on the significant additional challenge that public
health systems face in providing care to a vastly higher percentage of uninsured and Medicaid insured patients
and expressed strong pride in their mission-driven work to care for underserved populations.
IHI training participants.
As both parties laid out their vision plan, what became clear was the missions and goals are aligned. John
August, Director, Healthcare Labor Relations, Cornell University-ILR, Scheinman Institute on Conflict
Resolution provided a neutral perspective on the unprecedented change in healthcare that has created the need
for a new collaborative approach to improving population health and fiscal solvency of the public health system.
On behalf of NYC Health + Hospitals, Dr. Wilson shared recent patient experience and physician engagement
data. The data depicted the stark challenges ahead but the will and commitment in the room inspired confidence
in the ability to succeed. Dr. Wilson closed with the reminder that "The work we do is essential for millions of
New Yorkers. If we don't do it, no one will."
The open discussion following the presentations reflected the necessity of a collaborative approach to how we
define and implement change on the ground. Doctors raised issues on the difficulty of working with limited
resources and the need for safe and open lines of communication with management. This first meeting of the
Collaboration Council set the stage for building relationships, trust and finding common ground in a shared
mission.
The next meeting will take place on Friday, December 11th, 2015 where the work of putting ideas to action will
continue. In February, 2016, Facility-based Collaboration Councils will launch at each of the 22 NYC Health +
Hospitals facilities. Dr. Steven Hahn, Doctors Council co-chair for the Council closed stating "We are here
today to begin the process of building a mechanism for engagement that will work: the System-wide and
Facility-based Collaboration Councils. Let's proceed in a spirit of true collaboration in pursuit of our shared
goal."